Hi guys. My ocd is the worst it’s ever been. I’m not stable enough for ERP at the moment. Does anyone have any advice on how to manage thoughts when they are legitimately constant. I am obsessed with my energy levels and if I’m tired/ weak. How do I stay even a little present when the sensations are constant?
I tried to ground myself through sensory information. What am I feeling with my hands? What do I smell? The five placement exercise helps a lot five things. You can see four things. You can feel three things and so long as you go through all of your sensory.
You don't want me to tell you that it's never too bad to do ERP, so I won't tell you that, even though it's what I think. Have you done grounding techniques before? If you Google "grounding techniques" you'll get a long list. Also, make sure you're doing things during your free time. Ruminating is the worst when we're not occupied, so occupy yourself with mindfulness activities like coloring, going on walks, doing crosswords, or listening to music.
@sophea Hey thanks for responding! I do want to go back to ERP. My therapist was the one who put a pause on ERP for me because my meds were not stable enough. I am considering going inpatient soon. What are your favorite grounding techniques?
@Anonymous I...actually don't like grounding techniques. They just work for a lot of other people so I brought it up.
Oh hon, I'm right here with you. You are never ever alone in this.
I don’t have an answer because I am struggling with the same issue, sorry
I often force myself to go for a nice walk no matter the weather, take your senses for a walk. It doesn’t sound like it’ll do much, but you’re also proving to yourself that there is nothing wrong with you, you are alive and moving and doing something about it.
Little more details… so to be clear. Your obsession is intrusive thoughts about your energy levels and how your feeling? So you have a constant sensation of being tired that your hyper focusing on? And it’s keeping you from being present
@TE1022 Yes, essentially. If I don’t feel amazing or bursting with energy I freak out. I am scared of energy limiting diseases.
@Anonymous The thoughts/ sensations are near constant. I am not sure how to accept that.
@Anonymous Gotta find a way to be indifferent to the thoughts. Basically let them be there but don’t make them the subject of your focus. The greatest way it was described to me was treat them like a very annoying friend. You accept the friend(thoughts) and you’re fine with them being there. But your not paying them any attention no matter how annoying or Loud there being. Thoughts/ sensations only stay persistent when we give them importance by labeling them as dangerous. You’ve got to find a way to gently refocus your attention to the present everytime you catch yourself ruminating or focusing on your energy levels. And it’s gonna take alot of repetitions but that’s how you weaken its grip. We can’t control thoughts, but we can control thinking. We choose what thought we give attention to and which ones we don’t. And I know how hard this is, and it truly does suck. But mindfulness is a skill, and skills are developed through repetitive consistency, So you’ve got to put in the work. And just remember that you can recover from ocd, People live with it and recover from it, and there’s absolutely no reason you can’t be one of them
@TE1022 Thank you so much this is so helpful
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